One of the hardest hurdles that I had to overcome as a dad with a young son diagnosed with autism was figuring out how I could relate to him.

It’s not as easy as you would think. Remember my son, like so many children with special needs, doesn’t really engage with others. He isn’t very verbal and he’s certainly not a spontaneous speaker. It’s really difficult to have a one-sided conversation with a little child…especially one that isn’t paying attention to you, doesn’t seem interested in a lot of the things you would like them to be interested in, and that might be flapping or jumping or any other form of stimming while you’re trying to talk to them….